NEWS

It’s no secret that Rockingham County is home to some of the biggest bucks in the Carolinas, but Jordan Barnes was still surprised by the brute 9-point trophy he killed on Nov. 19. The buck has been green-scored at 146 4/8, but that’s not what surprised Barnes.

Jeremiah Wood of Dobson lasted 28 days on a southeast Pacific Island during season 28 of the CBS hit show Survivor: Cagayan, but he was much quicker to get his all-time largest whitetail after seeing the 140-inch, 8-point buck on his trail camera just hours before his Dec. 3 afternoon hunt.

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission once again is offering anglers a unique opportunity to catch trout in the winter without traveling to the mountains at one of six clinics being held at the John E. Pechmann Fishing Education Center in Fayetteville.

Mary Claissen Jones of Florence has been hunting with her dad for a number of years, and she’s killed her share of deer before, but on Nov. 8, she killed her biggest deer yet, a 10-point buck that’s been green-scored at 139 7/8 that she shot at 85 yards.

Bream are some of the most sought after fish in the Carolinas, and these fish bite well throughout the spring, summer, and early fall. But once the cold weather months arrive, most panfish anglers stow their fishing gear away and longingly think of spring when they can once again fill their coolers with these tasty panfish.

Jamin Floyd, a senior business major at Clemson University, went home for Thanksgiving holiday to be with his family and to do a little deer hunting. Never did he expect to take a 14-point buck while there.

As waters cool across the Carolinas, trophy blue catfish become active. While they are most often landed with stout tackle, a Wilmington angler managed to challenge the North Carolina state record of 117 pounds with a 112-pound blue that he caught on relatively light tackle and 10-pound test line.

It’s not time to put your fishing kayaks or rods and reels in storage for the winter just yet. Instead, it’s time to gear up for the YAK Kayak Fishing Shoot Out sponsored by Hooters of Myrtle Beach, which will be held this weekend, Dec. 9 – 10.

While plenty of soft plastic lures are made to specifically target one species of fish, it’s no secret that anglers often successfully use those lures for other types of fish. It’s a little bit of serendipity for lure makers and anglers alike, and can often lead to claims of a “secret lure” catching all the fish.

The recent passing of Yogi Berra brings to life one of his own famous quotes to life, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over!” And with at most, 31 days of the deer season left, those words couldn’t be any more true for deer hunters in the Carolinas. A few bucks are around, and the few hunters willing to go the extra mile can still be rewarded with a trophy.

As the holiday season arrives, most hunters are satisfied with a freezer full of enough tasty venison to last until the 2017 opener. But some hunters holding out for a wall-hanger and passing on immature bucks are beginning to lose confidence that a trophy will show up within range of their weapon of choice.

It is often difficult to spot a treed squirrel if the canopy cover is dense. While gray squirrels tend to hide by flattening their bodies against tree trunks or in forks where they resemble bumps or knots, fox squirrels often run to the ends of long-leaf pine tree limbs and curl into balls, looking exactly like pine cones.

December is a great month to fish for largemouth and striped bass in North Carolina.There are a lot of lakes around here where you can go out in December and find quality fish in that 10-foot depth range — there are other states where if you want to catch fish in the winter, you have to go in really deep water.